Something that I started thinking about, and something that Matt L has touched on in his post ‘Image is primary, sound is secondary’ is the idea that sound supports the image instead of them being on an equal par. In particular this comes about with the idea that if we were to notice the music, then the storyline has failed in its role to keep the audience interested.
The reason I started thinking about this is when I came about this passage in ‘The Best Years of British Film Music 1936-1958’: “This is the dilemma for the ‘serious’ composer. Writing music that successfully interprets the sometimes fleeting nuances of filmic diegesis yields little in the way of intrinsically musical satisfaction.” In essence, we have told the composer that we really do not wish to hear their music.
The composer in question for this chapter was Arnold Bax, and he is quoted as having said: “I do not think that the medium is at present at all satisfactory as far as the composer is concerned, as his music is largely inaudible, toned down to make way for – in many cases – quite unnecessary talk.” This does not seem to have changed and music is written only to support the visuals for it.
Is this fair to the music medium? Conscripted to the background where it is to be treated as something to help add to the feeling in a film, but not allowed to be listened to in its own right?
However, I think it can work very well when used right.
Carrying on from Rose Rees-Owen’s post, ‘Music as Emotional Cues - Needed or not Needed That is the Question’, music can be shown as a powerful medium to convey emotions when she found herself sympathising with a rapist. This is a good insight into how a composer could manipulate the audience with the medium of the ‘invisible soundtrack’. She claims that Pedro Almodovar was able to use the music into getting the audience to feel sympathetic to the rapist. This is done with the use of not allowing us to listen to the music in its own right, but allowing the music to manipulate our thoughts of a given situation. A musical ‘cue’ as she puts it.
It would be hard to get the same reaction with music that is designed to be heard, as this music would distract from the storyline. One example that I can think of is in the case of ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest’ This film uses classical music and, while I was watching it, I found myself separate from the storyline to groan at the choice in music. In this case the music did not serve the film, but separated it as both tried to grab the viewer’s attention.
It seems unfortunate to think of music as being in the subservient role. But in this arrangement it seems to be able to do a lot in engaging the audience into the films storyline of being a text to listen to in its own right. But, it seems a shame to the composer of a film score, just like it did to Arnold Bax, to be so restricted in the creativeness of their medium.
Friday, March 16, 2007
the influence of the past paving the way of the present
Interesting concept, but nothing new, as we look at music, the singers the songwriters and the bands of contemporary society, who draw upon past generations of music who inspire and influence their music, their songs and even their style? For many popular bands today their music carries underlying influence found within their lyrics their songs and the uncanny resemblance to musicians who may mean nothing to us, but maybe to our parents or even our grandparents. We look at bands like The Killer’s, whose recent album Sam’s Town and titled song “When you were young”, was strongly influenced by ‘The Boss’ Bruce Springsteen’s 1975 album Born to Run and the titled song “Born to Run”. My Chemical Romance whose album Welcome to the Black Parade, draws upon Pink Floyd and the ‘The Wall’ as influence for their video clip and their entire album. Roger Waters who?. Beyonce who draws inspiration from Aretha Franklin in her music, with her power ballads and the likes of Ella Fitzgerald and Kasabian influenced by Oasis and Oasis influenced by the Rolling Stones and Jet that draws from the influences of Queen, The Beatles and The Who. The Who are believed to be responsible for rock opera; looking at bands and their music draws from this infamous concept just look at the album Live from Leeds and in particular the concept album ‘The Who Sell Out’ in (1967). The Clash, Sex Pistols and the Ramones who have had significant impact on the garage punk alternative bands of today with the likes of David Bowie with his acollective music, Ziggy Stardust and make-up wearing bi-sexual stance has been a muse or a direct influence to bands today. I guess saying names like Roger Waters, Jimmy Paige, Pete Townshend, Joe Strummer, Robert Plant, Ray Davies and many others means nothing to us today, but their influence on contemporary music is apparent and still strong as ever, with the style of music, the conveying of topics and the lyrics. Many live performances and music video performances generate their own personas from the likes and list of the people above. As what they have achieved and how they have been immortalized by their music, it is not the awards, induction and accolades that validate the musicians, but it’s the bands and singers looking to them for direction, inspiration, influence. The desire to achieve such iconic status, meaningful music or to even be compared to the greats is something I’m sure many artists aspire, for their music to live on and to be used as a source by the next generation of artists, like they have done and the artists before them
Access All Areas: American Idol
Though there are many things I hate, I also love to hate American Idol. I do quite like it.
It's such a package. You've got the audition stage which is a bit like a stadium version of the rehearsal scene in hundreds of stage and movie musicals and dance movies.
The contestants come in all shapes and sizes, abilities and they're quite an ethnically/racially, straight and queer mix of multicultural America. God I hope that Indian guy has been eliminated though I'm sure many of the software engineer families and other Indian Americans are keeping him on the show even though he's terrible and has a smile that looks like he has excrement in his mouth.
The show's still geared to producing an oversinging diva whether it's a male or female. And it's dedicated to the power ballad. Cue Jennifer Hutson and a thousand wannabe Whitneys. However I've got a feeling this time around they've felt the pulse of the post-Timbaland pop charts and they'd like a Justin or Nelly Furtado wannabe with a twist that they develop during the show's training for each of the rounds. Timbaland called Justin the 'black white boy' and that's what they want in a smoother, sexier R & B Style, with cross racial teen appeal. I don't think it matters now whether the Justin 2 is brown, black, white, whatever. Nelly after all is Portuguese. You can have Asian Justins too. It's multicultural America. And you don't have to be thin like on America's Next Supermodel.
The 'We're in Hollywood' section is like the backstage musical 42nd Street with the theatre, barking judges and plain backrooms.
Once you get on to the studio audience format you've got the backroom where Ryan Seacrest (the 50th Most Loathsome Person in America, 2006--according to one website) gets all pal-ly and homey with his young steads. It's like Summer Camp America for exchange students.
Then there's the audience with their posters for their favourites and audience shots of family members. Wow, mixed race couple. Cool. Ah they look so proud. It was all worth it. Then the current affairs newsy bios but with stories of self-affirmation, hard work and dreams coming true with the family and community on the homestead. That stuff always has sentimental heartstring plucking musical arrangements with it. The band/orchestra is usually invisible, even if at various moments we see them in backroom doco footage or the music director is acknowledged. The musicians are hidden away in the service of the would-be star and his/her star-fication and the audience's star fixation and support for our favourites.
This is now the biggest television show in America in terms of ratings. We get to vote so it's a model for American democracy with better voting machines. We get to choose, not horrible Simon and wasted Paula (even though the tag tells you that New Zealand viewers cannot vote). We've got a black judge who can talk like a real dawg but still give lovin' to the budding showbizzers and potential hitmakers for the records he will produce and through which he will generate some revenue and more deals. The guy thinks he's Quincy and 'down' with the best of black clichés. So the show's got plenty of the minstrel factor.
Don't get me wrong, I love it. I hope some of you decide to write about the global pop format or any versions and variations of the Idol phenomenon. I've got to read more about this before the lecture on this topic at the end of semester but I think one of its recent 'origins' is Japanese and other Asian television markets and programmes in the 1980s and 90s, then the format was anglicized and honed in the UK and successfully exported to America. There are now many national versions of these global pop formats and even a world one which brings together not just national winners but pan-national contestents like an Arab singer, for example. There's also those other related shows where they pick someone to be in a band who have faded after past glories and/or need a new band member and new b(r)and. Lots of Tommy Lee and Sheryl Crow wannabes on these shows. Idol is also a good type of programme to think about the relationship between the global/local/national in these shows. How are the national variations different and the same? In Idol, how do the producers and the programme construct an 'imagined community' of viewers and listeners organized around this musical spectacle? How do they bind or suture the audience into the show's blend of musical experiences? Do they turn the process of star making inside out? Or do they expose you to the 'reality' of showbiz in very selective ways that do not make visible other facets of the process and the entertainment industry as a whole? How do they construct the subjects (the performers) as they seek the golden eggs. They remind us that anyone can achieve American success and happiness through a dream and hard work, in this case devoted to entertainment. It's really very much like the Hollywood musical and many other Hollywood products in this respect. It's as American as cluster bombs and apple pie. Some things change and others don't.
It's such a package. You've got the audition stage which is a bit like a stadium version of the rehearsal scene in hundreds of stage and movie musicals and dance movies.
The contestants come in all shapes and sizes, abilities and they're quite an ethnically/racially, straight and queer mix of multicultural America. God I hope that Indian guy has been eliminated though I'm sure many of the software engineer families and other Indian Americans are keeping him on the show even though he's terrible and has a smile that looks like he has excrement in his mouth.
The show's still geared to producing an oversinging diva whether it's a male or female. And it's dedicated to the power ballad. Cue Jennifer Hutson and a thousand wannabe Whitneys. However I've got a feeling this time around they've felt the pulse of the post-Timbaland pop charts and they'd like a Justin or Nelly Furtado wannabe with a twist that they develop during the show's training for each of the rounds. Timbaland called Justin the 'black white boy' and that's what they want in a smoother, sexier R & B Style, with cross racial teen appeal. I don't think it matters now whether the Justin 2 is brown, black, white, whatever. Nelly after all is Portuguese. You can have Asian Justins too. It's multicultural America. And you don't have to be thin like on America's Next Supermodel.
The 'We're in Hollywood' section is like the backstage musical 42nd Street with the theatre, barking judges and plain backrooms.
Once you get on to the studio audience format you've got the backroom where Ryan Seacrest (the 50th Most Loathsome Person in America, 2006--according to one website) gets all pal-ly and homey with his young steads. It's like Summer Camp America for exchange students.
Then there's the audience with their posters for their favourites and audience shots of family members. Wow, mixed race couple. Cool. Ah they look so proud. It was all worth it. Then the current affairs newsy bios but with stories of self-affirmation, hard work and dreams coming true with the family and community on the homestead. That stuff always has sentimental heartstring plucking musical arrangements with it. The band/orchestra is usually invisible, even if at various moments we see them in backroom doco footage or the music director is acknowledged. The musicians are hidden away in the service of the would-be star and his/her star-fication and the audience's star fixation and support for our favourites.
This is now the biggest television show in America in terms of ratings. We get to vote so it's a model for American democracy with better voting machines. We get to choose, not horrible Simon and wasted Paula (even though the tag tells you that New Zealand viewers cannot vote). We've got a black judge who can talk like a real dawg but still give lovin' to the budding showbizzers and potential hitmakers for the records he will produce and through which he will generate some revenue and more deals. The guy thinks he's Quincy and 'down' with the best of black clichés. So the show's got plenty of the minstrel factor.
Don't get me wrong, I love it. I hope some of you decide to write about the global pop format or any versions and variations of the Idol phenomenon. I've got to read more about this before the lecture on this topic at the end of semester but I think one of its recent 'origins' is Japanese and other Asian television markets and programmes in the 1980s and 90s, then the format was anglicized and honed in the UK and successfully exported to America. There are now many national versions of these global pop formats and even a world one which brings together not just national winners but pan-national contestents like an Arab singer, for example. There's also those other related shows where they pick someone to be in a band who have faded after past glories and/or need a new band member and new b(r)and. Lots of Tommy Lee and Sheryl Crow wannabes on these shows. Idol is also a good type of programme to think about the relationship between the global/local/national in these shows. How are the national variations different and the same? In Idol, how do the producers and the programme construct an 'imagined community' of viewers and listeners organized around this musical spectacle? How do they bind or suture the audience into the show's blend of musical experiences? Do they turn the process of star making inside out? Or do they expose you to the 'reality' of showbiz in very selective ways that do not make visible other facets of the process and the entertainment industry as a whole? How do they construct the subjects (the performers) as they seek the golden eggs. They remind us that anyone can achieve American success and happiness through a dream and hard work, in this case devoted to entertainment. It's really very much like the Hollywood musical and many other Hollywood products in this respect. It's as American as cluster bombs and apple pie. Some things change and others don't.
U2 'Window in the skies'
I think I'd rather see all these people lipsync U2 live rather than see the band itself. But where is Milli Vanilli? Is this U2 video a gesture of humility in the face of the history of popular music or an imperial gesture that subsumes all these greats into the U2 universe? Whaddya think?
Thursday, March 15, 2007
american Idol: They try to make me go to rehab, but I say Noooo no no.
Poor paula adbul is having a hard (or great) time dealing with show bidnezz...haha
What are peoples thoughts about the pop idol shows?
This whole notion of hypermediation where TV is trying to interact with the audience seems to be getting out of control, where 'reality tv' is just churrning out the same b.s. year after year expecting to make more money than the previous year. But am I the only one that's sick of it? Because it seems to be making a killing in revenue.
Festival Express
While it seems nearly impossible to produce the perfect authentic rock documentary, reading the articles from this past week and watching Wattstax made me think of what is in my opinion one of the best rock documentaries, Festival Express (2003). For those of you that haven't seen it, the film documents the 1970 5-day traveling festival featuring Janis Joplin, Buddy Guy, The Band, The Grateful Dead, Ian & Sylvia and many others. While it took nearly 30 years to be released to the public because of financial and political struggles leaving the archive footage to gather dust, I think it portrays many of the "do's" of rock documentaries. The film focuses on the audiences only when important such as a riot that breaks out over the cost of ticket prices in Toronto. The actual concert footage (everything is on 16mm), provides some of the best performances of the artists on the tour, such as Janis Joplin singing "Cry Baby". The best aspect of the film though, is how it portrays "the backstage". Cutting archive footage with current interviews of band members that are luckily still alive, you get to see these amazing musicians interacting on the train, revealing a 24-hour non-stop music festival. While of course it's impossible to tell whether or not some of the events are exaggerated because a camera was documenting the entire trip, it seems extremely genuine. Seeing such well-known and loved rock personalities together playing music and having an amazing time, takes away from the disillusionment of whether or not footage is authentic because it documents such a momentous occasion in rock history that anyone would love to see. The reactions and the reminiscing of the musicians so many years later definitely reveal good interviewing style as musicians such as Bob Weir are comfortable enough to joke about only being able to drink in Canada and not being able to do LSD or smoke marijuana.
This is one of the best clips from the film of Janis Joplin, Rick Danko (The Band) and Jerry Garcia drunkenly jamming.
I highly suggest seeing this film if you haven't, because it will definitely make you wish you could have been in Canada in 1970.
This is one of the best clips from the film of Janis Joplin, Rick Danko (The Band) and Jerry Garcia drunkenly jamming.
I highly suggest seeing this film if you haven't, because it will definitely make you wish you could have been in Canada in 1970.
Access All Areas: Madonna
Here's 'unseen footage' from Madonna's Truth Or Dare/In Bed With Madonna. At such lo res, Madonna looks like a cross between Gwen Stefani and Anna Nicole Smith. The timecode gives the video the feel of CCTV and all those reality surveillance shows on TV these days. The telephone conversation with Warren Beatty is more interesting than the scene used in the film where he's actually in the hotel room and doesn't like being shot by the camera. He doesn't want to be the object of surveillance. T or D anticipates the Truman Show and all the Big-Brother-Is-You Watching stuff that is now normal fare on our screens. I think it's authoritarian populism. People are supposed to perform in front of camera, become the kind of subjects that lifestyle, entertainment and celebrity culture script for them.
inside outside ra ra ra
i want to address a few topics that have come up within the course and also from the blog.
firstly, Linus responded to one of my previous posts about grime videos. I agree that grime videos (and a lot of the lyrics) center around the image/ego of the mc. In some ways thats a broad critique of both hip - hop and grime and possibly a large amount of other non-folk musics. Even the 'so sensitive life constantly hurts' emo frontman is selling a carefully crafted cultural niche. Instead of 'my guns the shiniest/ my mags are the spiningist' its replaced by 'i even cried when sally got knifed in home and away' or something. For most mc's though how big/bad i am etc is a popular topic. I find interest in seeing how different mcs handle the topic and challenge the conventions. (eg Dizzee rascal) Shakespeare didn't invent the sonnet sequence but made a great deal of flipping it on its head from the inside.
In saying that grime has some hard work ahead to keep itself interesting and distinct
from hip-hop in terms of both sound and visual representation. Grime has been going through a bit of a low in terms of quality and output while dubstep has been enjoying its time in the lime-light. Interestingly dubsteps BPM has increased and Grimes slowed down to around the 70bpm mark. Basically a lot of whats come out recently sounds like weak hip-hop which is a bad turn. Its getting a bit far fetched but I'd be interested to have a look at how the Affect surrounding a scene changes the BPM. on the plus new albums from dizzee, kano and roll deep this year.
In terms of how the videos are looking i took what you said as a bit of a challenge. It took me ages but i eventually found a grime video where the artists don't appear in the video at all.
DISCLAIMER: plenty of people were harmed in the following images. If you dont like kind of X-rated funniest/wierdest/scariest home videos i wouldnt watch the following.
its the best video i've seen for ages. I think it is actually futuristic (future is now kinda way) that 3d drum and bass videos never reached. It seems to match the grittyness/grimyness of the beats/lyrics in the grime aesthetic. It opens up a whole lot of questions about the economy of images now that the internet is so prevalent. Its an entire video made without the director ever picking up a camera. also, because of the large anarchic streak in the internet so many of the images available still have the novelty or newness that is all but dead on tv and village 8 style movies. The only place it pops up on tv is the news. I think the video makes a comment about the kind of detachment that occurs in hyperreality where for example we had all seen multiple simulations of sept 11 in movies before it even happened. Also its quite a good visual representation of why grime is grime and not shiny-happy-people-esque. Anyway its a massive step away from the Gangster video cliche that Lupe Fiasco sums up:
"now come on everybody lets make cocaine cool - we need a few more half naked women up in the pool - and hold this mac 10 thats all covered in jewels and can you please put your titties closer to the .22's - and wheres the champagne, we need champagne now look as hard as you can with this blunt in your hand - and now hold up your chains slow motion through the flames now cue the smoke machines and the simulated rain -------- but not too loud cause the babies sleeping......"
gangster/baby image is from 50's movie called 'I killed hip-hop tryin to get rich' or something.
I found a video that further complicates the minstrel idea by involving issues of non-essentialist identity. This guy does actually have Jamaican parentage but couldn't look anymore white/bbc if he tried. its a dancehall soundclash some time in the 90s. I researched him a bit and he was quite a well respected 'soundbouy' in the scene. alot of people ive showed it to have a hard time believing its not a joke. Its an interesting look at how much we are effected by the visual appearance of musicians. The minstrel figure we saw in class seems (and probably is) quite ugly racism but i think with black/white Otherness its been a long history of mixed fascination and fear on both sides.
anyway introducing sir david "ramjam" rodigan:
grime
firstly, Linus responded to one of my previous posts about grime videos. I agree that grime videos (and a lot of the lyrics) center around the image/ego of the mc. In some ways thats a broad critique of both hip - hop and grime and possibly a large amount of other non-folk musics. Even the 'so sensitive life constantly hurts' emo frontman is selling a carefully crafted cultural niche. Instead of 'my guns the shiniest/ my mags are the spiningist' its replaced by 'i even cried when sally got knifed in home and away' or something. For most mc's though how big/bad i am etc is a popular topic. I find interest in seeing how different mcs handle the topic and challenge the conventions. (eg Dizzee rascal) Shakespeare didn't invent the sonnet sequence but made a great deal of flipping it on its head from the inside.
In saying that grime has some hard work ahead to keep itself interesting and distinct
from hip-hop in terms of both sound and visual representation. Grime has been going through a bit of a low in terms of quality and output while dubstep has been enjoying its time in the lime-light. Interestingly dubsteps BPM has increased and Grimes slowed down to around the 70bpm mark. Basically a lot of whats come out recently sounds like weak hip-hop which is a bad turn. Its getting a bit far fetched but I'd be interested to have a look at how the Affect surrounding a scene changes the BPM. on the plus new albums from dizzee, kano and roll deep this year.
In terms of how the videos are looking i took what you said as a bit of a challenge. It took me ages but i eventually found a grime video where the artists don't appear in the video at all.
DISCLAIMER: plenty of people were harmed in the following images. If you dont like kind of X-rated funniest/wierdest/scariest home videos i wouldnt watch the following.
its the best video i've seen for ages. I think it is actually futuristic (future is now kinda way) that 3d drum and bass videos never reached. It seems to match the grittyness/grimyness of the beats/lyrics in the grime aesthetic. It opens up a whole lot of questions about the economy of images now that the internet is so prevalent. Its an entire video made without the director ever picking up a camera. also, because of the large anarchic streak in the internet so many of the images available still have the novelty or newness that is all but dead on tv and village 8 style movies. The only place it pops up on tv is the news. I think the video makes a comment about the kind of detachment that occurs in hyperreality where for example we had all seen multiple simulations of sept 11 in movies before it even happened. Also its quite a good visual representation of why grime is grime and not shiny-happy-people-esque. Anyway its a massive step away from the Gangster video cliche that Lupe Fiasco sums up:
"now come on everybody lets make cocaine cool - we need a few more half naked women up in the pool - and hold this mac 10 thats all covered in jewels and can you please put your titties closer to the .22's - and wheres the champagne, we need champagne now look as hard as you can with this blunt in your hand - and now hold up your chains slow motion through the flames now cue the smoke machines and the simulated rain -------- but not too loud cause the babies sleeping......"
gangster/baby image is from 50's movie called 'I killed hip-hop tryin to get rich' or something.
Minstrels
I found a video that further complicates the minstrel idea by involving issues of non-essentialist identity. This guy does actually have Jamaican parentage but couldn't look anymore white/bbc if he tried. its a dancehall soundclash some time in the 90s. I researched him a bit and he was quite a well respected 'soundbouy' in the scene. alot of people ive showed it to have a hard time believing its not a joke. Its an interesting look at how much we are effected by the visual appearance of musicians. The minstrel figure we saw in class seems (and probably is) quite ugly racism but i think with black/white Otherness its been a long history of mixed fascination and fear on both sides.
anyway introducing sir david "ramjam" rodigan:
the musical
below is a clip from dancer in the dark. i wont say to much about it but its a good clip in terms of looking at where 'escapism' is in the contemporary musical and also questions about diegetic and nondiegetic sound. I can watch the ultra violence of the grime clip above without blinking but this movie killed me. kind of an upside down view of realism or something:
all done
all done
Image is primary, sound is secondary?
From the second lecture, I gathered that Chion saw the image as primary with sound being subservient to it. In this way, sound can be seen as giving added value to the image.
But in the age where music videos are so prevalent, couldn't it be the other way round? My reasoning is this: a song is written and recorded and subsequent to this a music video is made and used as a way of selling the song. In this way, the image could be seen as giving added value to sound (the music) couldn't it? The music video being used as a way of getting wider exposure for a given song. Thus sound could be primary and the image secondary.
This is most readily the case in music videos where a band simply "plays" somewhere with the singer lip syncing and the rest of the group pretending to play their instruments (even if there are amps, the guitars aren't usually plugged into them). The example that comes to mind in "Welcome to Nowhere" by the Mint Chicks, where they "play" in front of a screen of images and move around as if they're playing live. These images are just simply adding to the song, rather than the song adding to the images.
But in the age where music videos are so prevalent, couldn't it be the other way round? My reasoning is this: a song is written and recorded and subsequent to this a music video is made and used as a way of selling the song. In this way, the image could be seen as giving added value to sound (the music) couldn't it? The music video being used as a way of getting wider exposure for a given song. Thus sound could be primary and the image secondary.
This is most readily the case in music videos where a band simply "plays" somewhere with the singer lip syncing and the rest of the group pretending to play their instruments (even if there are amps, the guitars aren't usually plugged into them). The example that comes to mind in "Welcome to Nowhere" by the Mint Chicks, where they "play" in front of a screen of images and move around as if they're playing live. These images are just simply adding to the song, rather than the song adding to the images.
Access All Areas: Goodfellas
I mentioned this shot in the lecture yesterday. This is Scorsese's take on the backstage cliché. But this time it's the privileged audience members rather than the band. They've come to see Bobby Vinton. The diegetic music or is it non-diegetic music comes from the Phil Spector production 'And Then He Kissed Me' (was it the Crystals or the Ronettes?)
Access All Areas: Spinal Tap
Here's the scene from This is Spinal Tap I was talking about in the lecture.
Morphing: Grizzly Bear 'Knife'
We'll be talking about morphing and digital animation later this semester but I saw this nice example recently. Good band too.
Antenna 3 at Rialto next Wednesday
Blurb follows:
ANTENNA UK celebrates the best left-field music videos made by British directors and includes filmed interviews with leading British directors talking about their work and background. Commissioned by the British Council, Antenna UK programmes have screened across the globe and are now here in New Zealand, exclusive to Rialto Cinemas!
With ever-more mainstream music channels on digital TV, and endless new pop tarts only too willing to shake their thing at any fish-eye lens who'll watch, the producers of ANTENNA UK firmly believe it's time somebody reminded the public that music videos can be more than just fuel for the egos of stars with already worryingly large heads.
In fact, some of the most influential and creative exploration of film comes from the music video sector and ANTENNA UK exists to shine a light on those on the front line of the scene.
ANTENNA 3 WITH SPECIAL GUEST JASON GROVES OF UK DESIGN STUDIO SHYNOLA!
Monday 19 March 2007 at 6:30pm
Rialto Wellington
Wednesday 21 March 2007 at 6:30pm
Rialto Newmarket
Tickets just $10.00
Join us for Antenna 3 where we take a look we take a look at some recent work by British directors, including established talents like Garth Jennings, director of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and a long list of benchmark music videos, and dom&nic who have a decade of video-making under their belts, and also newer faces like Ben Rollason, Karni+Saul and Chris Cairns. We also have the latest from Nizlopi, and Psapp, two bands proving to be reliably brilliant at making great videos.
Then we will be joined by special guest Jason Groves, founding member of Shynola.
Shynola have won D&AD Awards, British Animation Awards and MTV Awards for their work with such artists as Queens of the Stone Age, Blur, Junior Senior and Beck. Jason will host a 45 minute presentation, including the opportunity for Q&A from the audience.
Tickets are available now at www.rialto.co.nz
ANTENNA UK celebrates the best left-field music videos made by British directors and includes filmed interviews with leading British directors talking about their work and background. Commissioned by the British Council, Antenna UK programmes have screened across the globe and are now here in New Zealand, exclusive to Rialto Cinemas!
With ever-more mainstream music channels on digital TV, and endless new pop tarts only too willing to shake their thing at any fish-eye lens who'll watch, the producers of ANTENNA UK firmly believe it's time somebody reminded the public that music videos can be more than just fuel for the egos of stars with already worryingly large heads.
In fact, some of the most influential and creative exploration of film comes from the music video sector and ANTENNA UK exists to shine a light on those on the front line of the scene.
ANTENNA 3 WITH SPECIAL GUEST JASON GROVES OF UK DESIGN STUDIO SHYNOLA!
Monday 19 March 2007 at 6:30pm
Rialto Wellington
Wednesday 21 March 2007 at 6:30pm
Rialto Newmarket
Tickets just $10.00
Join us for Antenna 3 where we take a look we take a look at some recent work by British directors, including established talents like Garth Jennings, director of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and a long list of benchmark music videos, and dom&nic who have a decade of video-making under their belts, and also newer faces like Ben Rollason, Karni+Saul and Chris Cairns. We also have the latest from Nizlopi, and Psapp, two bands proving to be reliably brilliant at making great videos.
Then we will be joined by special guest Jason Groves, founding member of Shynola.
Shynola have won D&AD Awards, British Animation Awards and MTV Awards for their work with such artists as Queens of the Stone Age, Blur, Junior Senior and Beck. Jason will host a 45 minute presentation, including the opportunity for Q&A from the audience.
Tickets are available now at www.rialto.co.nz
More Admin Stuff!
I have begun the glorious process of matching names to people in more depth for my records, so I know who posted what when. As such, we have a short list of people who I can't place on my current class list.
I'm requesting the most updated class list from Denise as that might clarify some things, but meanwhile here are the people I can't place to a name.
If you wouldn't mind either telling me here or emailing me about it, that would be great. It would be great if you could sign off your future posts with your name.
THE LIST:
A F W
Amanda B
AthenaZ
ElaineL
Josh
MLiu
VNess
I'll probably wind up repeating this process a few times through the semester, but here's the first batch of unknowns.
- Kevin.
I'm requesting the most updated class list from Denise as that might clarify some things, but meanwhile here are the people I can't place to a name.
If you wouldn't mind either telling me here or emailing me about it, that would be great. It would be great if you could sign off your future posts with your name.
THE LIST:
A F W
Amanda B
AthenaZ
ElaineL
Josh
MLiu
VNess
I'll probably wind up repeating this process a few times through the semester, but here's the first batch of unknowns.
- Kevin.
Lecture 3 online
Yesterday's lecture is on CECIL now. The online lecture is a skeletal outline without images, which means you really need to attend the lectures to get the full version. However there are also some additions & clarifications in the online versions of lectures which will help you think about the issues more coherently and revise for exams. Hint hint.
Some Admin Stuff.
Hello everyone.
Here are some details which I thought I'd mention as they occurred to me.
1) Please do not disable responses to your posts. The whole idea of the blog is to be a community, and if people cannot respond to your ideas then that concept is kneecapped from the start.
2) Since I've had a number of questions about it, yes responses you make to other people's posts can count for the assignment. However, from previous experience it seems a good idea to make your response (if it's going to be a big one) on the main body of the blog, and link to the original post. The reason for this is that you can't search responses and neither can we administrators, and if you can't find your responses you can't hand them in at the end. We can search the main list of posts, and so can you.
3) And here we get to the main thing I wanted to get to. Practically everyone so far has a sensible posting name, which is brilliant. But since we have such a high number of students trickling in over time I thought I'd bring it up again. Please make a posting name which connects to you, personally, otherwise there's no way to know who to give the marks to. We already have one Athena Z who I can't locate on my class list, although that might be because it needs updating. If you've signed up under a name that doesn't connect to you, don't worry. The best solution we came up with in FTVMS203 was that you just need to remember to post your name at the bottom of each post in the text body, and I'll build up a list of who is who over time.
Otherwise, everything's going well. Does anyone have questions?
- Kevin.
Here are some details which I thought I'd mention as they occurred to me.
1) Please do not disable responses to your posts. The whole idea of the blog is to be a community, and if people cannot respond to your ideas then that concept is kneecapped from the start.
2) Since I've had a number of questions about it, yes responses you make to other people's posts can count for the assignment. However, from previous experience it seems a good idea to make your response (if it's going to be a big one) on the main body of the blog, and link to the original post. The reason for this is that you can't search responses and neither can we administrators, and if you can't find your responses you can't hand them in at the end. We can search the main list of posts, and so can you.
3) And here we get to the main thing I wanted to get to. Practically everyone so far has a sensible posting name, which is brilliant. But since we have such a high number of students trickling in over time I thought I'd bring it up again. Please make a posting name which connects to you, personally, otherwise there's no way to know who to give the marks to. We already have one Athena Z who I can't locate on my class list, although that might be because it needs updating. If you've signed up under a name that doesn't connect to you, don't worry. The best solution we came up with in FTVMS203 was that you just need to remember to post your name at the bottom of each post in the text body, and I'll build up a list of who is who over time.
Otherwise, everything's going well. Does anyone have questions?
- Kevin.
More than Elvis' pelvis. Much more.
The section of today’s lecture on Rock ‘n’ Roll in the 1950s talked about the tendency of visual media to de-sensationalise musical performances and the way musicians are represented on screen. The creators of variety shows and musical films clearly felt a moral obligation towards their audiences, and seeing as they couldn’t change the songs, controlling the image was clearly the only way to go. Nabeel mentioned that this conservative discourse is still around today. But I do have to wonder what those objectors to Elvis’ pelvis would think of this highly sexualised offering from Christina Aguilera ('Dirrty', David LaChapelle, 2002):
The popularity and commercial importance of music videos today means musicians have a lot more control over how their image is presented. As western societies have become more liberal, so has the content on its screens. We all know that sex sells – that’s why musicians exploit it, and why MTV and C4 will play it. There is very little (if any) desire to tone down the way in which artists choose to express themselves. Even live performances are shot to emphasise the physicality and sexuality of the stars, and are laden with gratuitous close ups of shaking booties and revealing costumes. None of which really has much to do with the music itself.
Of course, music television hasn’t proven itself to be completely without scruples just yet. If you think you can stomach it, here’s the link to Jarvis Cocker’s 'Running the World'. The content itself isn’t even graphic, but the karaoke-style words floating in the clouds spell out the offensive lyrics loud and clear. I think Alt TV’s probably the only channel you’ll find playing this here, although they may well have fallen under the Broadcasting Standards Authority’s radar since going digital…
The popularity and commercial importance of music videos today means musicians have a lot more control over how their image is presented. As western societies have become more liberal, so has the content on its screens. We all know that sex sells – that’s why musicians exploit it, and why MTV and C4 will play it. There is very little (if any) desire to tone down the way in which artists choose to express themselves. Even live performances are shot to emphasise the physicality and sexuality of the stars, and are laden with gratuitous close ups of shaking booties and revealing costumes. None of which really has much to do with the music itself.
Of course, music television hasn’t proven itself to be completely without scruples just yet. If you think you can stomach it, here’s the link to Jarvis Cocker’s 'Running the World'. The content itself isn’t even graphic, but the karaoke-style words floating in the clouds spell out the offensive lyrics loud and clear. I think Alt TV’s probably the only channel you’ll find playing this here, although they may well have fallen under the Broadcasting Standards Authority’s radar since going digital…
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